1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a suture package designed to facilitate automated loading of multiple needles and sutures into the package.
2. Description of the Related Art
As in the case with many articles of manufacture, the requirements of the user of a surgical needle and suture----a surgeon or other health professional----limit the flexibility of the manufacturer. The goal is to design a package that meets the surgeon's requirements, while still being easy and inexpensive to manufacture.
In the packaging of surgical needles and sutures, it is important that the needle and its attached suture be easily removable from the package in one smooth motion. When the needle is grasped by a forceps and pulled, the needle should easily release from the package, and the suture should withdraw from the package smoothly, without binding or snagging in the package, and without becoming entangled. Also, suture materials, particularly monofilaments such as catgut, polydioxanone and the like, especially the heavier deniers, are known to take a set during storage; i.e., they tend to have a "memory" causing them to retain the shape of their position in the package after removal form the package. Hence the package should be designed to eliminate any tight bends or curves required in order to package the suture.
A package for holding a plurality of sutures and needles in spaced apart relationship and in the same plane was disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,424,898, issued Jan. 10, 1984, to Thyen et al.
An "easy loading" suture package was described in coassigned copending U.S. appl. Ser. No. 843,651, filed Feb. 28, 1992, incorporated herein by reference. That package retains a needle and attached wound suture using cantilevered retaining fingers to prevent the suture from lifting up out of a retaining channel.